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Ammon News - A poisonous and 'rarely seen' sea creature has stormed Texas beaches in droves, scientists warn.

Marine biologists spotted these dangerous 'blue dragons,' a surface-skimming sea slug, on Sunday along North Padre Island, just south of Corpus Christi, Texas.

The unusual creatures feed off the toxins of Portuguese man o’ war, a jellyfish-like animal.

'Warning: do not touch the blue dragon!' one local research institute alerted their social media followers, posting a researcher's photos of the toxic, blue creature.

'When threatened or touched,' according to the institute, 'it can release stinging cells with more powerful stings than the Portuguese man o' war can alone!'

This 'blue wave,' which researchers said is just getting started thanks to the coming spring's strong southeast winds, has also flooded Texas beaches with toxic man o' wars and 'thousands' of predatory 'by-the-wind-sailors,' with more on the way.

Jace Tunnell, a marine conservationist who produces 'Beachcombing' series for the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, spotted the beached blue dragons on an expedition to North Padre Island on Sunday.

'I'm on the beach all the time so when I find something new or rare, I'm always intrigued,' Tunnell told DailyMail.com. 'Once I found the blue dragon, I knew I wanted to get photos of it without touching it.'

And, despite their bright blue hues, the toxic dragons can be challenging to spot.

The sea slug is typically no more than one inch long and its multi-shaded coloring is meant to blend in with both the blues of the ocean and the sky - making the dragon 'a master of disguise' according Australian marine ecologist Dr. Steve Smith.

'If someone gets stung by a blue dragon,' Tunnell explained to DailyMail.com via email, 'it would be intense pain for about an hour.'

'People might experience nausea and the feeling like needles scraping the skin,' he said. 'Anyone who has been stung by a man o' war knows what I'm talking about.'

'I've been stung by many,' Tunnell said. 'I'm a surfer. lol.'

These painful toxins inside a blue dragon, formally known as a Glaucus atlanticus sea slug, comes from its parasitic-like feeding off of the 30-foot tentacles of its more innately poisonous host, the Portuguese man o' war.

The blue dragon is immune to the man o' war's toxins and collects the substance for its own self-defense - housing greater and greater concentrations within the finger-like tips of its wing-like appendages, called cerata.

'Every spring we get strong southeast winds that bring in all kinds of interesting items from the Gulf,' according to Tunnell, who scooped his specimens with a small clear bucket for his own safety.

Although increasingly powerful ''Category Six' mega-hurricanes are projected for the Gulf of Mexico due to climate change, the marine researcher noted that while the arrival of the G. atlanticus blue dragon was rare, it was not unusual.

'I don't believe this is connected to climate change,' he said, 'just a normal seasonal pattern that we see here along the coast.'

Daily Mail